ecuador has made it mandatory for people within the country to get the coronavirus vaccine. this follows the arrival of the omicron variant in the south american country. while dozens of countries have introduced new health measures in the face of the omicron variant, very few of them have outright mandated that people receive the vaccine. the american authorjoan didion, whose career chronicled the mood and chaos of life in the 19605 and 70s, has died at the age of 87. her publisher said the cause was parkinson s disease. ms didion is largely credited with ushering in the newjournalism genre of literary nonfiction, mining her richest material from her native california. ethiopia says its troops have been ordered not to advance into the tigray. it comes after tigrayan rebels called for a ceasefire and negotiations which have ignited hope that they could lead to a resolution to the war in northern ethiopia. you re watching bbc world news america. still to come on tonight s